The Crusader Journal

By Ece Toksabay and Mehmet Emin Caliskan ANKARA/AFRIN, Syria (Reuters) – Turkish forces will press their offensive against Kurdish YPG fighters along the length of Turkey’s border with Syria and if necessary into northern Iraq, President Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday. Turkish troops and their rebel allies swept into the northwest Syrian town of Afrin […]

By David Randall NEW YORK, 2018 – U.S. stocks joined a broad decline in global equity markets on Monday as traders turned cautious ahead of the Federal Reserve’s policy meeting this week and amid continuing concerns about the threat of a global trade war. At the same time, shares of Facebook Inc shed nearly 7 […]

PARIS (Reuters) – French President Emmanuel Macron’s government plans to tighten controls on the unemployed and increase penalties against those who fail to look hard enough for a job, the labor ministry and union leaders said on Monday. Macron, elected last May on a pro-reform ticket, has already changed labor rules to make it easier […]

TUNIS (Reuters) – A militant blew himself up as Tunisian security forces surrounded him and another fighter in a house near the Libyan border on Monday, the interior ministry said. Forces then shot the second man dead in the coastal town of Ben Guerdan, officials added. A security source said the men were likely to […]

By Mircely Guanipa PUNTO FIJO (Reuters) – Venezuela has arrested the former refining boss of state oil company PDVSA for alleged corruption, two sources told Reuters on Monday, extending a crackdown on the OPEC nation’s ailing oil sector. Veteran oil executive Jesus Luongo joins a list of dozens of oil managers who have been arrested […]

By Jon Herskovitz AUSTIN, Texas (Reuters) – Police in Texas fear a serial bomber planted four powerful explosive devices that have killed two people and injured four others this month, raising fears in the state capital Austin of another attack. Investigators said they have no clear idea what motivated the series of attacks, which began […]

By Kirsti Knolle VIENNA (Reuters) – Austria’s capital Vienna once again defended its position as the city offering the best quality of life in the world, while Iraq’s capital Baghdad remains the worst in an annual survey from consulting firm Mercer. Mercer’s survey of 231 cities helps companies and organizations determine compensation and hardship allowances […]

(Reuters) – Mississippi’s governor signed into law on Monday the most restrictive abortion measure in the United States, which was immediately challenged in court by abortion rights advocates who say it is unconstitutional. Republican Governor Phil Bryant said he was proud to sign the bill banning abortion after 15 weeks of gestation with some exceptions, […]

ABUJA (Reuters) – Nigerian security forces were warned about the presence of Boko Haram fighters near the town of Dapchi, but failed to respond, allowing insurgents to kidnap 110 schoolgirls almost unharrassed, Amnesty International said on Tuesday. The kidnapping on Feb. 19 of the girls from Dapchi, aged between 11-19, had echoes of the Islamist […]

By Gabriela Baczynska and Alastair Macdonald BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Britain and the European Union agreed on Monday to a transition period to avoid a “cliff edge” Brexit next year — though only after London accepted a potential solution for Northern Ireland’s land border that may face stiff opposition at home. The pound surged on confirmation […]

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Democrats seek subpoenas for White House security clearance data

The White House is seen as the sun sets in the third week of the new Trump administration in Washington, U.S., February 7, 2017. REUTERS/Jim Bourg

By Mark Hosenball

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Democrats on a congressional committee investigating the White House’s security clearance procedures on Friday urged the panel’s Republican chairman to compel the Trump administration to turn over records they said were being withheld.

In a letter to U.S. House of Representatives Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Trey Gowdy, Representative Elijah Cummings, the panel’s top Democrat, asked that a subpoena be issued to force the White House to turn over the security clearance documents.

“Last night, we received a completely inadequate response from the White House regarding our committee’s request for information about security clearances,” Cummings said in the letter he released.

Gowdy had asked the White House and Federal Bureau Investigation in mid-February to provide the committee with information about how an interim security clearance was issued to Robert Porter, a former staff secretary to U.S. President Donald Trump who left the White House last month after two ex-wives said he had physically abused them.

Gowdy later sent the White House a broader request asking about the extent to which officials had been working for extended periods with only temporary security clearances.

The White House responded to the queries on Thursday in a letter from Marc Short, an assistant to the president, which Cummings released on Friday. But the White House turned over none of the records Gowdy had requested.

Amanda Gonzalez, a spokeswoman for Gowdy, said: “The Chairman finds the White House’s response inadequate, and we have communicated to the White House that we expect full compliance.”

In its letter, the White House said it would “update” the committee at an “appropriate time” on the progress an Executive Branch working group has made to review and improve security clearance procedure.

Cummings called the White House response an “affront to our responsibilities under the Constitution.”